Sixth cyclist killed in two weeks in Camberwell lorry crash

A cyclist has been killed in a collision with a lorry in south-east London, BBC London reports.

The crash happened at the junction of Camberwell Road and Albany Road in Camberwell just after midday.

The cyclist, who has not been named but is believed to be in his 60s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

His death is the sixth cycling fatality on the capital’s roads in two weeks and the 14th death in 2013. HGVs were involved in nine of the fatal crashes.

The five cyclists who died between Tuesday 5 November and 13 November are Brian Holt, 62; Francis Golding, 69; Roger William De Klerk, 43; Venera Minakhmetova, 24, and a 21-year-old man from St John’s Wood whose name has not been revealed by police.

The number of cyclists killed so far in crashes this year is the same as the figure for the whole of 2012.

The latest death took place in the Southwark Council area where its leader, Peter John, has previously called for HGVs to be banned during rush hour to protect cyclists.

The driver of the lorry involved in the latest crash stopped at the scene, police said.

UPDATE (20/11/13)

The cyclist has been named as 60-year-old Richard Muzira.

Mr Muzira was a writer who endured years of torture as a political prisoner in Zimbabwe before being freed in a deal brokered by Margaret Thatcher, the London Evening Standard reported.

Muzira grew up during Zimbabwe’s War of Liberation and spent his teens and early twenties in and out of jail until intervention by the Thatcher government in 1979 led to the end of white minority rule.

He came to England as a refugee and studied film at the University of Westminster, before becoming a volunteer for mental health charity CoolTan Arts. The father-of-four was given a “Local Heroes” award for his community work from the Bank of America in 2011.